Emma Kenney, who stars on Roseanne as Darlene’s daughter and Shameless as Debbie Gallagher, says she’s seeking treatment for her “battles.”
“I was running with a really fast crowd,” the 18-year-old actress said in a statement. “I was being naive and very immature, and I was doing things I should not be doing because it was illegal and I’m not 21.”
She continued, “It wasn’t healthy, and it was making me feel even worse — anxious and depressed. It was just a slippery slope that I did not want to go down. And I knew that I needed to stop it.”
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Kenney said she wants to be “the healthiest, best Emma I can be.”
“I know that by going to treatment that’s what’s going to happen, and I’m going to continue on that positive road,” the Shameless star shared. “I just want to send a message to my fans saying that it’s OK to admit that you need help, and it doesn’t make you weak. I’m going to come out on the other side, the True Emma that I’ve always been.”
In a statement released to In Touch Weekly, Kenney said “I’m going to be seeking treatment for my battles. I’m going to work through it. I’m going to get help and make better choices.”
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The first season of the Roseanne reboot has already wrapped shooting, according to Entertainment Weekly, so Kenney’s absence won’t affect any storylines.
Kenney’s been acting since she was a child, co-starring on Shameless as Debbie Gallagher, the youngest daughter of the dysfunctional South Side Chicago family for eight seasons since 2011.
She revealed to In Touch that she didn’t cope well with stress, which led her to take part in “an occasional wild night” that sent her to clubs with “older friends in Hollywood.”
“I just think I need a mental sanity break and a break from the Hollywood scene,” she said.
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Kenney took to Twitter on Monday to post that she was taking a break from social media.
“Hello & goodbye (for a bit) I’ve decided to take a break from social media and LA for a minute. This sounds so cliche but this town/industry can really get to you. Going to re-find my peace happiness. xo emma,” she wrote.
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